It is with the greatest sadness that Arkell’s Brewery in Swindon, one of the UK’s few remaining Family Breweries, announces the death of former chairman, Peter Arkell OBE.   Before joining Arkell’s in 1954, Peter flew Spitfires, Mustangs and Lysanders behind enemy lines during the Second World War, delivering and retrieving secret agents and provisions under cover of darkness.

Peter, 87, passed away peacefully at home in Whelford, near Kempsford, Cirencester on Friday morning. He is survived by his wife, Anne (herself from brewing stock in Norfolk), children James (current chairman of Arkell’s Brewery) Jane Bayley, Rosalind Arkell and Alison Jenkinson and their families, as well as his one surviving brother and three sisters.

Born in 1923, Peter Arkell, the second eldest son of Sir Noel (his older brother died during the war), joined the family brewing business as a director in 1954. A war veteran who served with the RAF in France and Burma, Peter spent a year in hospital after his Lysander aircraft crashed behind enemy lines in Burma.

After the war he considered resuming his degree at Edinburgh University but was offered a job at Hammonds Brewery in Yorkshire – later taken over by Tadcaster Tower Brewery.

In 1954 he returned to join the family business in Swindon as a director and became Chairman in 1971.   Peter’s return to Arkell’s Brewery heralded a new age for the then 91-year old brewery, bringing fresh perspectives from his time in Yorkshire and a new informality within the traditional old brewery reflecting the signs of the times in Britain after the war had ended.

He also spotted early the growing trend amongst consumers for wine and the increased interest in dining out. Responding to this, in 1962 the brewery set up John Arkell Vintners – now a hugely successful and integral part of Arkell’s Brewery’s activities and one of the largest wine distributors in the area.

Peter, who was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 1997, once said: “My initials are ‘PA’ – Pale Ale. I was born in the brewery and I married a brewer’s daughter – I’m in it up to my neck.”

Taken from:  Swindon Business News

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DEVON’S Otter Brewery is vying for a prestigious industry accolade with such businesses as Coca-Cola, the Co-Operative Group and Unilever.

The company, based at Luppitt, near Honiton, is one of ten shortlisted in the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability category of the National Business Awards.

The finalists will each make a presentation to the judges next month and the winner will be announced at an award ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London in November.

It follows the opening of Otter’s pioneering eco-cellar last year.

It is the first building of its kind in the South West, and much of it is underground, naturally keeping the temperature inside at the perfect 12C for storing barrels of beer during secondary fermentation and eliminating the need for chilling in the summer and heating during winter.

This has helped the brewery to save around £20,000 a year in energy costs and to cut its annual carbon emissions by 6.5tonnes.

Read the full story in This is Exeter

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Chorister, the latest occasional guest beer from Baths only micro brewery Abbey Ales will be available to Baths top real ale pubs from Wednesday 25 August.

The 4.5 % abv brown malty ale brewed with local Wiltshire Maris Otter malt and finished with Fuggles hops proved popular the last time it was released with drinkers and visitors to Bath that Landlords in Bath have been advised to order early.

Managing Director Alan Morgan commented, “We always try to brew a range of different beers to compliment our best selling Bellringer but the need to meet the demand for our flagship ale Bellringer takes up nearly all of our production. Head brewer Martin Langham, has to fit in brewing occasional beers when possible and he has slotted Chorister in before autumn. Our regular customers are aware how quickly the guests sell and fortunately for us order early.”

Abbey Ales started brewing in Bath in 1997 and have regularly won awards for their flagship brew Bellringer a golden 4.2% best bitter. They have four pubs situated in the centre of Bath the Star Inn the Coeur De Lion Old Farmhouse and the Assembly Inn. Delivery is strictly within a twenty mile radius of Baths famous Abbey.

Alan Morgan
www.abbeyales.co.uk

Abbey Ales 01225 444437 Alan Morgan 07711 118441

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Three artisan food and drink producers - Bristol Beer Factory, Trethowan’s Dairy and Mark’s Bread are collaborating to bring the Bristol public two unique tasting events this summer.

On Monday July 19th BBF are hosting a Beer, Bread & Cheese Tasting & Tour at the Bristol Beer Factory Brewery, next to Mark’s Bread on North Street, Southville. The second event takes place on Tuesday August 24th in the stunning St Thomas the Martyr Church, Redcliffe.

These events are a fantastic opportunity to taste artisan Cheese, Bread and Beers, and learn how they can work together in harmonious pairings. The Cheese Maker, Baker and Head Brewer will be providing a very hands-on introduction and education about their products which are the result of years of knowledge and passion.

Trethowan‟s Dairy makes the multi-award winning Gorwydd Caerphilly, winner of Best Traditional Cheese at the World Cheese Awards. They run stalls at Borough Market in London and St Nick’s Market in Bristol, where their regular Wednesday Raclettes are becoming something of a legend!

Mark’s Bread is a small craft bakery making hand made bread from the best ingredients using traditional methods. Many of their breads are made without the addition of commercial yeast, but with naturally occurring ‘wild’ yeasts and friendly bacteria cultivated in levain (sourdough). Other ‘yeasty’ breads are made with a pre-fermentation (poulish).

Bristol Beer Factory will be showcasing some new and exciting beers at the events including ‘Mountain Goat’ IPA, winner of their inaugural Homebrew Competition, a German-style Wheat Beer, as well as the National Award winning ‘Milk Stout’.

Both events offer a splendid opportunity to enjoy tasty artisan cheeses, specially baked breads and superb beers. Events start at 7.30pm and cost £25 per person.

For ticket information and bookings for these events call Bristol Beer Factory on 0117 9026317 or for card payments call Trethowan’s Dairy on 07590 960329 or visit their shop in St Nick’s Market.

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The Bristol Beer Factory is launching its first Home Brew Competition Winning Beer in the week commencing June 28th “Mountain Goat IPA” has been brewed with competition winner Richard Poole. Richard came to the brewery a couple of weeks ago to brew his beer with BBF Head Brewer Chris Kay. On Monday 28th June Richard will be coming to the brewery to taste his beer before it is put into 35 casks to go out to the pubs in Bristol.

The BBF launched the competition back in January to find the best beer being brewed by home-brewers in Bristol and the surrounding area. There were over 20 entries covering numerous different styles of beer with all sorts of unlikely ingredients including chocolate, coriander, orange peel, ginger & cardamom. The Best 5 beers were then judged in April by 5 judges including 4 professional brewers. Chris Kay said “I was very impressed with the standard of beers, Mountain Goat was particularly good in its use of American hops giving some fantastic tropical fruit aroma’s.”

Mountain Goat IPA is an exotic beer containing 5 different hop varieties from America, New Zealand & England. It is a light golden colour with a strength of 5%. “I enjoy brewing this style of beer, as I have a great love of these pungent hops that give beautiful flavours & aroma’s to the beer” said Richard. “We have used the Nelson Sauvin hop from New Zealand that shares a lot of similar characteristics to Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand. It gives the beer a powerful, fruity flavour,” he continued.

Managing Director Simon Bartlett is very excited about the special, seasonal beers that the BBF are brewing this summer “this is the first of 5 beers we are releasing in the next few months. It is a very exciting time at the brewery with increased capacity and a new range of Bottle-Conditioned beers soon to be launched.”

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The Keltek Brewery in Redruth has announced that it is to launch its additive-free, vegan-friendly Real Ale – Natural Magik – in bottles.

In most ales, isinglass finings - derived from fish - and copper finings (carrageenan) are added during the brewing process to help remove particles and clarify the beer. For many bottled beers, it is then filtered as well, resulting in the crystal clear beer that we are all used to.

Originally developed as a food ingredient with no additives, Natural Magik has been used in Tesco “Finest” and Morrisons pies. It is brewed from hand-pitched grains and whole hop flowers and does not contain any finings. It will not be filtered when bottled either.

With the public becoming increasingly mindful of the substances contained in their food and drink, Keltek feel that Natural Magik will prove very popular with both Vegans and non-Vegans alike.

Keltek’s Andy Hawken said, “Natural Magik is amber in colour, and naturally cloudy. It has been used in cooking and baking for a number of years now, but it tastes great on its own so it makes total sense for us to offer it in bottles. The way it’s brewed means that all of the rich, full flavours remain in the beer, rather than being filtered out for purely cosmetic reasons. The only ingredients are malt, hops, yeast and water.”

The first batch scheduled for bottling was brewed and bottled last week, and is now naturally conditioning in the bottle for a month before it is ready to drink. Polypins of Natural Magik are available now.

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Steve Skinner

Cornwall-based Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has won bigger backing from one of the county’s best-known breweries to boost its campaign in its 20th anniversary year.

SAS has agreed a new two-year sponsorship deal with Skinners Brewery, of Truro. It involves increased financial support together with new beer mats, posters and a monthly draw all designed to create even more awareness for the campaign.

SAS, which is run from St Agnes, was formed by a group of local surfers anxious to stop sewage pollution at their Cornish surf breaks. They were swiftly joined by like-minded water users all over the UK campaigning for clean and safe recreational waters.

They have been supported by Skinners ever since the brewery’s own launch in 1997, with members of the brewery-owning family being accomplished surfers themselves.

Chief executive Steve Skinner explained: “We are increasing our sponsorship for SAS because we feel it is both appropriate in their 20th anniversary year and more necessary than ever.

“They have come a long way in their first 20 years. I personally can remember very clearly the days when we would be surfing in brown water at Newquay’s Fistral Beach, with hotels dumping their sewage straight into the sea.

“Mercifully, that is now history, but it is equally clear that there is still much work that needs to be done in creating even more momentum to protect beaches, oceans, waterways and waves right across the UK. We like the direction in which SAS is going and are delighted to be able to increase our support for them.”

The beer mats that are part of Skinners’ increased support will include details of a monthly draw for everyone joining SAS. Each month for a year, Skinners will give away an 18-pint ale polypin to the winner.

The brewery is also planning to host a big thank-you party at its Newham base for sponsors and supporters of SAS.

SAS director Hugo Tagholm commented: “We are delighted to further develop our association with Skinner’s Brewery, who have generously increased their sponsorship towards our vital projects to help protect beaches, oceans and waves right around the country, not least right here in Cornwall.

“As one of our long-term supporters, Skinners have seen first hand the positive difference SAS has made and continues to make to our shores, and we are grateful for their support in making sure the campaigns are as hard hitting and effective as possible. A big thank you to Steve and the whole Skinners team.”

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From 18^th – 20^th June, Cheddar Ales will be enticing everyone to its second beer festival – a celebration of real ale held in amongst the weird and wonderful vessels of the brewery itself.

On offer will be a range of 45 beers from microbreweries across the country, cherry-picked to produce a Best of British showcase of real ale. “We source beers on the basis of their having won major industry awards over the past three years”, says festival organiser John Magill, “So for the beer lover it’s paradise – every beer you try will be a champion in its class. And for those that are new to real ale or just interested in food, drink and flavours, there’s no better place to start exploring one of Britain’s greatest craft industries.”

The range covers a wide variety of styles with something to suit all tastes. “We’ve got all sorts” says John, “lots of golden and pale ales perfect for summer quaffing, as well as classic bitters, milds, porters and IPAs. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a proper beer festival without a few specials, so we have a honey beer, a wheat beer, a couple of blondes and then some seriously strong stuff for the more adventurous drinkers.”

Of course the range also includes the brewery’s own award-winning ales such as Potholer and Gorge Best, and its elusive special brews such as Goat’s Leap IPA and Totty Pot Porter.

Other attractions include a varied selection of live music from local bands playing everything from Roots and Folk to Indie Rock and Blues. There is also an all-day barbecue cooking a range of locally-sourced goodies to help soak up the beer and this year the festival will also provide entertainment for kids during the afternoons to give parents a bit of time off to enjoy a pint or two.

Once again, visitors will be encouraged to make a weekend of it by camping on-site. John strongly encourages this approach. “You can fall out of the festival and straight into bed, then wake up and have beer and bacon sandwiches for breakfast.”

But if you can’t make it for the whole weekend, each day has its own character, says John, “Come on Friday night if you want the choice of the full range of beers, freshly tapped. We tend to get the connoisseurs in on the Friday along with those just looking for a good night out after a week at work. Saturday is ideal for a bit of afternoon lazing outdoors, but it gets more and more lively as the day goes on until it’s really bustling come the evening time. Sunday is Father’s Day, and we’ll have some special offers later in the day so we’re expecting lots of dads being treated to a day out.”

The beer festival will run from the 6pm on Friday 18^th ‘til late afternoon on Sunday 20^th June.  No need to buy tickets in advance, just turn up and pay on the door, although if you want to camp you will need to book a pitch. There is a free minibus running between Cheddar and Draycott, via the brewery, at peak periods.  Contact the brewery for more details.

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Devon Brewers sold over 10,000 pints of Devon Beer and Cider in ‘The Contented Cow’ at the Devon County Show last week - the sun shone and it was the best year ever for the feature.

Guy Sheppard of Exe Valley Brewery organises it and was especially pleased that we again won a Silver award for Tradestands at the show (we had won one in 2004 and 2009 with a bronze in 2006); we are now aiming for gold!

25 beers were on offer and kept at the right temperature with cooling equipment supplied and installed by SIBA TS; very important since temperatures outside reached into the 80’s.

The BBC also ran a couple of good pieces about us on the regional news programme, Spotlight. These can be seen here: 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8697000/8697683.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8697000/8697797.stm.

 Some pictures of the cooling set up are here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=434978&id=141722920647&ref=mf

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